Heaviside rockers come home to Central Alberta for anniversary show

Edmonton-based band Heaviside will throw a loud-and-proud 10th anniversary celebration in Red Deer.

“We’re quite excited — it’s always great to see family and friends,” said the group’s lead guitarist John Hermary, a graduate of Red Deer’s Notre Dame High School.

The anniversary concert on Saturday, Dec. 10, at The Vat will be something of a homecoming since Heaviside is also made up of three Rocky Mountain House natives — singer/guitarist Mitchell Reynaud, his brother, drummer Spencer Reynaud and bassist Kyle Green.

Three of the four musicians attended Red Deer College in various practical studies before heading off to Edmonton to further their education. Hermary completed his computer engineering degree in 2005, a year before joining the other Central Albertans in Heaviside.

The band’s since performed around the province — including the mainstage at the infamous Boonstock Festival before the event was booted out of Gibbons, Alta. because of crime and rowdiness concerns. Heaviside also put out three albums over the last decade, starting with Pushin’ Forward Back (2009) and following with Wasted Generation (2012).

The latest, Omnivore, contains songs Hermary describes as observational rather than political — even though the title track is about the very thing that fuelled so much discontent in the recent U.S. presidential election: greed.

The new tune Crooked is about “two-faced people you have to watch out for,” he added, while his personal favourite, Smokestack, is a commentary about pollution. Hermary still maintains the band’s lyrics aren’t about sending out political messages; “We’re just trying to put out positive words to make people more aware of what’s going on in the world.”

Heaviside’s music has become more complex, with a heavier vibe over the years, added the fan of Avenged Sevenfold and other punk/metal bands. Hermary feels it was a shared love of hard rock that brought him and the other musicians together.

Although their kind of music has gotten the short shift from radio, which currently plays more electronica and folk-rock, some new Heaviside songs have gotten airplay — including a hard-driving cover of Tom Petty’s Refugee.